Paal Payasam Recipe | Milk & Rice Payasam | Onam Recipes

Paal Payasam is a special treat meant for special people. Not the express kind that we make these days, adding the 3-4 ingredients in a pressure cooker but the traditional, slow-cooked paal payasam made with the raw red rice that's quintessentially Keralan called unakkalari in Malayalam - but you can also use Rose Matta rice or any other non-sticky rice for the paal payasam.

Paal payasam made traditionally will have a pink hue from the rice used. Ok, don't look for the colour in my payasam picture because we used regular rice this time.

Onam is always a nostalgic time for me because Kerala is at its best then. There's the smell of fresh coconut oil being heated for all the banana chips, banana leaves gleaming in the sun, the rains just checked and the heat manageable, flowers everywhere and athappoo designs being planned, women walking around in the traditional Kerala set sari days before and after the day, school vacation after first term... I could go on.

So let me shut up for now and give you the Paal Payasam Recipe already!

Paal Payasam Recipe / Rice Kheer Recipe

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Serves 4-6
Recipe source: amma (payasam in picture made by bedhamma, her sis)

Ingredients:
500 ml (2 cups) of milk
1/2 cup of sugar (adjust to taste)
1/4 cup of unakkalari / raw rice (or any non-sticky rice like basmati)

How to Make Paal Payasam:

1. Add 2 cups water to the milk and bring to boil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Once the milk boils, add the sugar and simmer until it reduces to half.

2. Add the washed rice and continue to cook on very low flame, stirring frequently until the milk thickens further and the rice is cooked soft.

3. Remove and serve warm / chilled.

Notes:

• For a quick paal payasam (rice kheer), just add all ingredients (don't add water) to a pressure cooker and cook for 2-3 whistles. When the pressure leaves, open the lid, add 2-4 tbsp of condensed milk and bring to boil before removing from fire and serving. Adjust sugar accordingly since the condensed milk will make it too sweet if you use the same amount of sugar used otherwise
• Adding anything else to the payasam like cardamom pods or cashew nuts will distract you from the actual flavour that's meant to be pure milk so keep it simple folks